Promoting Biotechnology in Hong Kong
The current economy of Hong Kong is highly reliant on the service sector, which accounts for 92% of the total GDP. The financial, trading and logistics industries, in particular, make up 50% of the GDP and 30% of the employment. The Hong Kong government, recognizing the need to expand and diversify the economic base, has identified six new key industries to ensure the continual growth of the region and advance the development of Hong KongĄ¯s knowledge-based economy. These key industries are: testing and certification, medical services, innovation and technology, environmental industry, education services and culture and creative industries. Biotechnology, being closely linked to the first five of these initiatives, has tremendous potential to revolutionize Hong KongĄ¯s future.

Funding Biotechnology Ventures
Although a lot of publicity and public awareness was created when a life-science subsidiary of a major property company was listed in 1997, the venture capital community in Hong Kong seldom emphasizes biotechnology investments. Biotech ventures usually do not appear on the radar screen of venture capitalists because most of the venture capital funds in Hong Kong have an average life-span of five to six years. This means that many local venture funds lack the capacity to invest in biotechnology ventures that may easily take up to ten years to develop. As venture capital provides a crucial source of funds for technology venture development during the early stage of the venture, biotechnology entrepreneurs need to think carefully about their funding plan to ensure sufficient funds are available for their ventures before presenting their cases to venture capitalists.